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Several piece of Viking jewelry , some of which contain atomic number 79 , have been expose at a farm site in Denmark that date as far back as 1,300 years .
Althoughthe Vikingshave a popular reputation as being raiders , they were also Fannie Farmer , traders andexplorers , and the craftsmanship seen in this jewelry present their esthetic skills .
A copper alloy piece of jewelry found at a Viking-age site in Denmark shows an animal figure with a beadlike chain around its neck.
Archaeologists working with voluntary used alloy detectors to happen the jewellery in dissimilar spots throughout a farmstead on Zealand , the largest island in Denmark . The remains of the site , which is now called Vestervang , date from the previous seventh to the early eleventh centuries .
get such lavish goods at such a modest farm situation pose a puzzle , the archeologist allege . The reasonableness why the farm internet site would hold such treasure may lie ina legendary sitelocated nearby . [ See pic of the Sparkling Viking Jewelry ]
centre - shaped animal drumhead
A brooch dating to A.D. 500-700 discovered at a Viking-age farm site in Denmark.
The " most striking " exercise is 2.9 inches ( 73 millimeters ) long and shows an persona ofa meat - mold animate being headwith rounded ears and circular eyes , writes archaeologist Ole Thirup Kastholm , of the Roskilde Museum , in a newspaper issue in the most recent edition of the Danish Journal of Archaeology . The piece , made of cop metal , may be part of a necklace .
" The neck is brood by a buttony chain , " Kastholm writes . " Above the creature foreleg , there are marked cubital joint reefer and three - finger paws or foot , which awkwardly grasp backwards to what might be hind legs or wings . " The object in all probability had three similar look-alike originally , but only one survives .
In addition to the animal picture , the item , possibly a pendant , also show three block out trope , each with a " droop moustache . " A " circular mark is seen between the eyebrows and above this , two ears or horns come forth , giving the anthropomorphous masque an animal character , " Kastholm pen .
He said that the animal ikon itself seems to be anthropomorphous , something not strange inViking age artistry . " Some of these anthropomorphic pictures , though , might be consider as representations of ' shamanic ' actions , i.e. as mediators between the ' real ' populace and the ' other ' populace , " Kastholm wrote in an email to LiveScience . He ca n’t say for certain who would have worn it , but it " sure ( was ) a person with connection to the elite surroundings ofthe Viking historic period . "
A fortunate Christian mystery
Another mysterious piece of jewelry found at Vestervang depicts a Christian mark and appears to have been create in continental Europe sometime between A.D. 500 and 750 , predating the Viking - age farm site . [ In Photos : New Viking Voyage divulge ]
" The decoration consists of a cardinal wheel crossbreed in rest period , with inlaid gold press into a waffle class . The waffle gold is in some arena covered with guileless red glass or semiprecious rock and forming an equal - armed cross , " indite Kastholm in the paper .
How the artefact arrived at a pre - Christian Viking - years farm site is a enigma . A Christian traveler may have bring it to Vestervang , or a non - Christian person at the internet site may have acquired it through exchange . The item would have been used as a broach , and Kastholm said a female of " high rank " perhaps wear off it on her dress .
It " state us about close relations and connection between Southern Scandinavia and the European continent inlate Iron Age , before the meter of Christianization , " Kastholm wrote in the e-mail .
Rich jewelry at a modest website
These discovery leave researchers with a enigma . What is suchrich jewelrydoing at a modest agricultural settlement ?
The answer may lie in in a fabled site , named Lejre , which is settle about 6 Swedish mile ( 10 kilometers ) south - southeast of Vestervang , no more than three hours away by foot and gravy holder .
" Legend has it that this was the place where the first Danish dynasty , the Scyldings , had its majestic seat , " write Tom Christensen , also of the Roskilde Museum , in an clause write in the leger " Settlement and Coastal Research in the Southern North Sea Region " ( Verlag Marie Leidorf , 2010 ) . He notes that some members of this dynasty even appear in the famous verse form " Beowulf . "
Archaeological inquiry has revealed that Lejre seem to be a deep situation . In 1850 , a cache consisting of " four silver vessels , a whetstone , a weighting , a necklace and a phonograph record - shaped silver metal bar " was found in the nearby hills , Christensen noted . A monument 282 feet ( 86 metre ) long made of stone arranged in the pattern of a ship was also reconstruct in late excavations .
The presence of this elite site tight to Vestervang may excuse the mien of the newly observe ample jewellery , Kastholm writes . In the sixties , there was Brobdingnagian residential ontogeny in the area of Vestervang , but maps that predate the development show two village near the situation with " Karleby " in their name , something that may stand for that the area was pass on to retainers of Lejre ’s ruler .
" The onetime Scandinavian term karl , jibe with the previous English ceorl , refer to a member of the king ’s professional warrior bodyguard , the hirð , " Kastholm writes in the journal clause .
Together , the rich jewelry receive at Vestervang , the website ’s proximity to Lejre and the bearing of two nearby villages with the figure " Karleby " unveil what life may have been like at Vestervang .
It " seems probable that the settlement of Vestervang was a farm command by a Lejre superior and given to generations of retainer , i.e. to a karl of the hirð , " Kastholm writes . " This would explain the sinful reference of the stray observe contrast with the somewhat average tincture of settlement . "
